Location: United Arab Emirates

Financial Crime and Fraud Technology / Transformation – Senior Manager / Director 

Role Overview

KPMG Middle East is seeking to strengthen its Financial Crime and Fraud practice through the appointment of a Senior Manager / Director to lead our AI- and data-driven transformation capability.

This role sits within our Fraud and Financial Crime solution and will focus on delivering technology-enabled transformation across Financial Services clients, with particular emphasis on AML, sanctions, fraud, and broader financial crime domains.

The successful candidate will combine deep Financial Services domain expertise, strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities, and practical experience in data, analytics, and AI technologies to support clients in addressing complex regulatory and operational challenges. The role will span advisory, solution design, and implementation, driving innovative, scalable, and value-driven outcomes.

In addition to client delivery, the role will play a critical part in building KPMG’s market proposition, developing client relationships, and growing the practice in line with KPMG’s values and strategic priorities.

Key Responsibilities

Client Engagement & Business Development

• Develop and maintain senior client relationships, including engagement with C-suite stakeholders across Financial Services.
• Lead and contribute to business development activities, including go-to-market initiatives, sales campaigns, and proposal development.
• Lead end-to-end bid processes, from opportunity qualification through to deal closure.
• Identify emerging client needs, market trends, and regulatory developments in financial crime and fraud.
• Provide strategic advisory support to clients on financial crime transformation, including technology, data, and operating model enhancements.

Engagement Delivery

• Lead the delivery of complex, technology-enabled transformation programmes, particularly those leveraging data, analytics, and AI.
• Oversee engagement quality, ensuring outputs meet KPMG standards and client expectations.
• Manage delivery risks, timelines, and budgets, ensuring successful and timely completion of projects.
• Provide guidance on solution design, architecture, and implementation approaches across financial crime use cases.
• Drive innovation and development of reusable assets and solutions.

People Leadership & Practice Development

• Lead, coach, and develop high-performing, multidisciplinary teams across data engineering, data science, and domain specialists.
• Support recruitment, resourcing, and capability development initiatives within the practice.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performance culture, aligned with KPMG values.
• Define and embed best practices, methodologies, and delivery standards to enhance quality and consistency.
• Contribute to the broader growth and strategic development of the Financial Crime and Fraud solution.

Experience & Technical Capabilities

Required Experience

• Extensive experience within Financial Services, with a focus on Financial Crime, Fraud, or Forensics.
• 10–15+ years of experience across: 
  • AML / KYC
  • Sanctions
  • Transaction monitoring
  • Fraud detection and prevention
  • Financial crime technology and transformation
• Proven experience leading large-scale data- and AI-driven programmes within Financial Services.
• Strong understanding of end-to-end data and analytics lifecycle
• Demonstrated ability to design and deliver technology-enabled solutions, including development of reusable assets and accelerators.
• Experience in building, mentoring, and scaling data and analytics teams.

Preferred Experience

• Prior experience within Big 4 or leading consulting firms.
• Exposure to RegTech / FCC technology platforms.
• Experience engaging with regulators or regulatory-driven transformation programmes.